New Zealand: All stories
New renewables capacity hit record in 2019
8 Apr 2020
Almost three quarters of new electricity generation capacity built in 2019 uses renewable energy, representing an all-time record.
Govt: Transport spending must cut emissions
7 Apr 2020
Decisions about transport infrastructure must line up with the Paris Agreement – and that means people living and working in the same area and almost zero emissions from vehicles, the Government says.
Submissions reveal support for disclosure
7 Apr 2020
Plans to make companies disclose their climate risk have widespread support, if submissions are anything to go by.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
7 Apr 2020
Submissions on the rules governing the outdoor storage of tyres close tomorrow.
Taxing oil and gas fields could work, says Upton
6 Apr 2020
Taxing oil and gas exploration and strengthening the Emissions Trading Scheme could be more effective ways of cutting greenhouse gas emissions than banning exploration, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says.
Todd wins sole exploration permit
6 Apr 2020
Todd Corporation, the country’s largest privately owned energy company, has won the country’s only new licence to explore for oil and gas.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
6 Apr 2020
Parliament’s Environment Select Committee meets online today and on Thursday to hear submissions on the Urban Development Bill.
Carbon News still coming your way
6 Apr 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
Airlines bailouts should come with climate conditions
6 Apr 2020
Financial help from taxpayers to airlines hit by the coronavirus crisis must come with strict conditions on their future climate impact, green campaigners have said.
Virus could trigger record fall in carbon emissions
6 Apr 2020
Carbon dioxide emissions could fall by the largest amount since World War Two this year as the coronavirus outbreak brings economies to a virtual standstill, according to scientists.
POLITICS: We're on a climate knife-edge
3 Apr 2020
By ADELIA HALLETT | Is the covid-19 pandemic going to be a repeat of the Global Financial Crisis in terms of climate change? It could go either way.
EDS (and more) welcomes moves on emissions
3 Apr 2020
Moves to make local councils consider greenhouse gas emissions in resource consents would have thrilled climate activist and former Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, says Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
3 Apr 2020
International climate negotiations – including the COP26 talks in Glasgow – have been postponed because of the covid-19 pandemic.
Carbon News still coming your way
3 Apr 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
Blue energy revolution comes of age
3 Apr 2020
The amount of energy generated by tides and waves in the past decade has increased 10-fold. Now governments around the world are planning to scale up these ventures to tap into the oceans’ vast store of blue energy.
Lift RMA emissions ban, says select committee
2 Apr 2020
A 2004 ban on considering greenhouse gas emissions in resource consents should be overturned, the Environment Select Committee has told Parliament.
Government aims to put planning on fast-track
2 Apr 2020
The Government is looking at ways to fast-track through the planning process projects under its covid-19 recovery package.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
2 Apr 2020
The Environmental Defence Society has cancelled its August summit but hopes to go ahead with the annual Climate Change and Business Conference in October.
Carbon News still coming your way
2 Apr 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
Hydrogen not the answer for transport, says study
2 Apr 2020
Renewable hydrogen has the potential to slash the global greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuel power generation by more than one-third, but it’s not the answer for low-carbon automotive transport, says a new report.
We'll favour job-producing projects, says Jones
1 Apr 2020
The Government will back low-carbon projects in its post-covid-19 infrastructure spend-up – but only if they create jobs, says infrastructure minister Shane Jones.
Wind turbines might fit the bill for new projects
1 Apr 2020
New wind turbines are among the projects the Government’s Infrastructure Industry Reference Group is looking for to help to boost employment in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
1 Apr 2020
Infrastructure minister Shane Jones says he wants to hear directly from people with ideas for “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects.
Carbon News still coming your way
1 Apr 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
ETS reform still a top job, says minister
31 Mar 2020
Reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme remains a priority for the Government, despite disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic, says climate minister James Shaw.
Pandemic clears the air
31 Mar 2020
The covid-19 pandemic shutdown is improving New Zealand’s air quality.
Carbon News still coming your way
31 Mar 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
Offshore windfarms have future, say experts
30 Mar 2020
Offshore windfarms could stack up financially in New Zealand from the middle of the century, experts say.
Scientists cut short climate cruise
30 Mar 2020
Research off the east coast of New Zealand into the link between clouds, phytoplankton and climate change has been cut short because of the covid-19 state of emergency.
Carbon News still coming your way
30 Mar 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
30 Mar 2020
Tomorrow is the last day to file emissions returns or apply for a 20-day extension because of the effect the covid-19 pandemic lockdown is having on businesses.
Stage set for surge in sustainable investing
30 Mar 2020
The coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout will trigger a skyward surge in sustainable, responsible and impactful investing over the next 12 months, says the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.
Coronavirus hinders climate science
30 Mar 2020
The global response to the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting climate science.
Deadline nears for emissions return extensions
27 Mar 2020
Businesses struggling to complete a 2019 emissions return because of the state of emergency in New Zealand must apply for an extension before Tuesday.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
27 Mar 2020
Submissions on the use of nitrogen inhibitors in agriculture which were due to be with the Ministry of Primary Industries today now close on April 5.
Carbon News still coming your way
27 Mar 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
OPINION: Science makes a comeback
26 Mar 2020
By JIM SALINGER | This has been a strange period and I have been reflecting on the uptake of scientific facts and advice with the covid-19 pandemic.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
26 Mar 2020
The Environment Select Committee’s report-back on proposed changes to the Resource Management Act, scheduled for today, has been postponed until the end of next month.
Carbon News still coming your way
26 Mar 2020
New Zealand is under a state of emergency, with all non-essential movement and contact banned.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
25 Mar 2020
Parliament meets today to pass legislation putting the country into a state of emergency.
It's official, e-cars produce less CO2
25 Mar 2020
Electric vehicles produce less carbon dioxide than petrol cars across the vast majority of the globe – contrary to the claims of some detractors, who have alleged that the CO2 emitted in the production of electricity and their manufacture outweighs the benefits.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
24 Mar 2020
Parliament’s select committees will continue working during the covid-19 shutdown but will be holding virtual instead of physical meetings.
Carbon News in the time of covid
24 Mar 2020
With the world’s attention on the covid-19 pandemic, little attention is being given just now to the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prepare ourselves for inevitable levels of global warming.
New carbon trading platform causes a stir
23 Mar 2020
Political questions are being asked about the appropriateness of a State-owned company providing services in the carbon market.
Otaki sets up solar farm to power the town
23 Mar 2020
A new solar farm in Otaki will power the town’s wastewater plant and power the local high school, with profits being used for more community energy projects.
Carbon News in the time of covid
23 Mar 2020
With the world’s attention on the covid-19 pandemic, little attention is being given just now to the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and prepare ourselves for inevitable levels of global warming.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ...
23 Mar 2020
A meeting of Greater Wellington Regional Council’s climate committee scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Poor water systems greater risk than virus, says UN
23 Mar 2020
Decades of chronic underfunding of water infrastructure is putting many countries at worse risk in the coronavirus crisis, experts said as the UN marked World Water Day.
MPs put 1.5 million reasons to stop wasting food
20 Mar 2020
New Zealand could cut 1.5 million tonnes from its annual greenhouse gas emissions if it stopped wasting food, MPs say.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
